Videos, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: I’m On a Boat – Warriors Orochi #30

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Well, okay, there was one more challenge left to undertake with the Wu forces… just like with the Samurai forces, Orochi needs a second kicking just to make sure he stays down for good!

This time around, the stage for the battle is a take on the Battle of Chi Bi, a Dynasty Warriors classic that sees both sides battling across a flotilla of warships, with a bit of fire to keep things interesting.

Gives a whole new meaning to “tiger, tiger, burning bright,” huh?

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: I’m On a Boat – Warriors Orochi #30 →

Essentials, Shmups, SNK

SNK Essentials: Bermuda Triangle

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A couple of years after Alpha Mission, SNK put out a follow-up of sorts — if not a direct sequel. (That would show up in the Neo Geo era!)

That game was Bermuda Triangle, and much like Alpha Mission before it, it’s a very creative and unusual take on a genre that, even as early as 1987, was heavily saturated with very similar titles of varying quality.

In order to stand out in such a situation, you need to do something distinctive — even unique. And, well, there are definitely a number of features in Bermuda Triangle that I haven’t seen attempted since!

Continue reading SNK Essentials: Bermuda Triangle →

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Diamonds

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I do enjoy a good “dirt and boulders” game. And Simon Hunt’s Diamonds, published by English Software in 1983, is certainly a good “dirt and boulders” game.

Casting players in the role of Digger Dan, part-time member of Blue Man group and long-time precious stones enthusiast, it’s up to you to gather the titular diamonds while avoiding the unwanted attentions of Brian the Blob, Philip the Filler, The Fireflies, The Eyes, Simon the Snake and The Demon. Brian also wants diamonds; the others just want you dead. Which isn’t very nice.

This is a longstanding personal favourite of mine from the Atari 8-bit era, and a game I still like returning to today quite often! Check it out when you get the opportunity.

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Essentials, Shmups, SNK

SNK Essentials: Alpha Mission

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SNK is primarily known for its fighting games these days, but in its earlier years it was known for a number of solid (and influential) shoot ’em ups.

While Alpha Mission (also known as ASO: Armored Scrum Object in Japan) isn’t the company’s first shoot ’em up by any means, it is an important one and forms the first in a loose “trilogy” of titles that we’ll explore over the course of the next few articles.

Drawing inspiration from Western RPGs, of all things, this is a fun but challenging vertically scrolling shoot ’em up that any fan of the genre owes it to themselves to become intimately acquainted with.

Continue reading SNK Essentials: Alpha Mission →

Split/Second, Sunday Driving, Videos

Sunday Driving: Boneyard Rush – Split/Second #10

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We’re closing in on the end of Split/Second now; only a few more episodes to go!

Today’s episode, Boneyard Rush, takes us out of the city and into a few areas rather devoid of life… the desert, the canyon, the industrial zone. Bring on the Bridge of Death!

Hit the jump to see how things went today… and to admire a stupid gag that took me probably more time and effort than it really deserved.

Continue reading Sunday Driving: Boneyard Rush – Split/Second #10 →

Announcements, Community

Around the Network

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Another week has passed! This one seems to have gone by quite quickly for some reason. I’m not complaining; I have a couple of weeks off from the day job at the beginning of April, and I’m very much looking forward to using that time for a bunch of MoeGamer and YouTube stuff.

In the meantime, though, things have been continuing as usual around here, with plenty of things to read, watch and listen to.

So let’s take a look at what you might have missed this week!
Continue reading Around the Network →

Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Destroyer

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As we’ve previously seen with Canyon Bomber, sometimes all you need to make an addictive, enjoyable game is a simple concept… and perhaps some gimmicky controls.

Such is the case with Destroyer, a game that featured some satisfyingly clunky physical controls on its original arcade release, which are obviously lost somewhat in this home translation. Interestingly, this never got a home port of its own prior to the release in Atari Flashback Classics; it was instead incorporated into the Atari 2600 port of Canyon Bomber, which was developed by David “Pitfall” Crane.

It’s a simple idea, but an effective one… and one that really does not like being captured at 30fps, so if you can’t see the depth charges for part of this video… uh, sorry! Such are the limitations of my hardware!

Essentials, One-Shots, SNK

SNK 40th Anniversary Collection: (Almost) Perfect Preservation

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As the years advance and old gaming hardware and media gets more expensive, harder to find and even more difficult to maintain, the matter of gaming preservation is of increasing importance.

I’ve previously talked about how emulation and ROM archives have an important role to play in all this — in spite of interference from certain quarters — but of arguably greater importance are companies’ own efforts to preserve their respective histories and portfolios.

I picked up the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection for Nintendo Switch recently, and I’ll be covering the individual games in it over the next indefinite period of time in an “SNK Essentials” column (and perhaps some videos) — but today, I wanted to talk about this package as a whole, what it gets right, and what I wish it had done slightly better.

Continue reading SNK 40th Anniversary Collection: (Almost) Perfect Preservation →

Atelier Arland Trilogy, Videos

New Game Plus: Cabbage Girl – Atelier Rorona DX #6

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“It’ll be a short episode,” he says, then proceeding to play for an hour and a half. I was having fun, though!

Yes, this week’s episode of New Game Plus runs a little longer than intended, but, well, there were important things to do. Very important things. Like the cabbage competition in the annual festival!

Hit the jump to see just why everyone is calling Rorona “Cabbage Girl”…

Continue reading New Game Plus: Cabbage Girl – Atelier Rorona DX #6 →

Cover Games, Death End Re;Quest

Death end re;Quest: Introduction

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cropped-header-2500285This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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Although Idea Factory and Compile Heart will likely always be known as “the Neptunia people” thanks to the success of their flagship franchise, this cult favourite collective has been becoming more and more adventurous and creative as the years have advanced.

A big part of this experimentation comes in the form of Compile Heart’s “Galapagos RPG” project. Originally set up in 2013 with the mission to “develop RPGs specifically for Japanese customers”, the intention behind the studio was to eschew the growing trend for Japanese developers to change their style in a specific attempt to court a wider Western audience, and instead to focus primarily on that core audience. This wouldn’t rule Galapagos games out of being localised, mind you — it just meant they’d be unapologetically Japanese.

Sounds good to me. And going by the strength of past games put out by the project — including Fairy Fencer F and Omega Quintet — it seems to be a winning formula for the studio. Let’s take a first look at their latest, and where it came from.

Continue reading Death end re;Quest: Introduction →

The best of overlooked and underappreciated computer and video games, from yesterday and today.